Love Marner or hate him, there is one constant that needs to be addressed. His salary Cap hit. The Leafs were having Cap problems before he left. Something similar is about to fall on the heads of the Anaheim Ducks.
Incorrect. The Leafs could have easily fit Marner last year but they decided to waste money on pylons like Maccelli, Joshua, Roy, Laughton, Jarnkrok, Carlo and Rielly. The Leafs “cap space” problem is self-inflicted. When the “cap crunch” happens, it should cost you your worst players, not your best. Look at Florida and Vegas. Somehow, they find a way to cut the fat without losing their best pieces. It’s called good management which is something the Leafs haven’t had in 59 years.
Too many players, with no playoff pedigree looking for top dollar. Young, talented, but unproven. The Leafs went through 10 years of this core and they couldn’t reach the 3rd round. Something had to give. Marner was the last one up, after Matthews and Nylander signed.
Again, incorrect. The problem was Tavares. He made way too much money and was the worst playoff performer of all the Leafs core players. Instead of telling him to take a hike, they re-signed him because he was cheap. Years of failure fall on more players than just Marner. Nylander could have been traded and never was. Rielly? Still here. The reality is, the Leafs needed a scapegoat to take the blame off their own bad management so they blamed Marner. The sheep, much like libtards, took the bait hook, line and sinker. Why hold the actual problem people (liberals) accountable when you can blame the scapegoat (America) instead?
Would it have made a difference if Marner was a Center? Probably. Wingers shouldn’t be considered the most important position on the team. Hence, they should be paid less than a Center. Unfortunately for Marner, he wanted Matthews money and it wasn’t going to happen.
Strike three, wrong again. Marner played center for Vegas when the team was hit with injuries. The only reason Marner wasn’t developed as a center is because the Leafs were too stupid to develop him as one. Hunter literally said after they drafted him he viewed him as a center. The Leafs, being the retards that they are, did not. Again, that’s not on Marner, that’s on the Leafs. Did Matthews lead the playoffs in scoring and go to the Cup Final last year? Oh, he didn’t? But he gets “Matthews” money, right? Right. Marner was worth it and the Leafs were too retarded to see it.
The Leafs couldn’t find a way to pay three, in their prime forwards max money. So he had to go.
Wrong again. The Leafs could have afforded to keep Matthews, Marner and Nylander but even in a world where they couldn’t, Nylander should have been traded if they absolutely had to pick only two of the three. He would have got a lot more in return than Nic Roy, that’s for damn sure. If the theory is true that losing Marner wasn’t the reason the Leafs finished last in the division, they would have still drafted McKenna and had they paid Marner “Matthews money” and traded Nylander, it would have yielded a better final outcome. McKenna | Matthews | Marner + whatever you got in return for Nylander (top-six forward + top-four D) is what the Leafs should be looking at right now. Instead, they’ll be lucky if they’re a wild card team.
In reality, Rielly was the one that needed (and still needs) to go and the Leafs still can’t make it happen, meanwhile Nurse went to the Sharks with 0 dollars retained by the Oilers and they got a top prospect to boot. The Leafs are retarded. Those are the facts. End of story.